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Theo Walcott (left) in action for Arsenal during a pre-season friendly match

Arsenal play matches on three different continents in the build-up to the start of the 2017-18 Premier League season, beginning with this first of two in Australia on Thursday July 13 (8.00pm AEST kick-off).

The FA Cup winners, whose manager Arsene Wenger has extended his stay with the club by two more years, are heading Down Under for two matches in three days against Sydney’s two A-League clubs.

Sydney FC are the initial opponents for the Gunners at the ANZ Stadium and two days later, Western Sydney Wanderers play host to Arsenal at the same venue.

From there, Wenger and his squad head to Asia for two games, one of which is in the International Champions Cup as they take part in the Chinese section of that series.

That match is against Bayern Munich, Arsenal’s perennial Champions League nemesis, on Wednesday July 19 in Shanghai. Then, in Beijing on July 22, comes the first of two pre-season meetings with Chelsea, whom Arsenal beat 2-1 in last season’s FA Cup Final – they meet at Wembley again in the FA Community Shield on Sunday August 6.

After flying back from China, Arsenal have a week in between matches as their next commitment is the Emirates Cup, which they host, with their fixtures on July 29 and 30 being against Benfica and Sevilla respectively.

Arsenal’s fans in Australia should be the first to see their new signings in action, with striker Alexandre Lacazette having been bought from Lyon for a club record fee of around £47million while left-back Sead Kolasinac has arrived on a free transfer from Schalke.

But whether some of the club’s other big stars will make the journey remains to be seen. Alexis Sanchez is unlikely to do so regardless of his future because he played in the Confederations Cup, while at the time of writing Hector Bellerin and Olivier Giroud were being strongly linked with moves away to Barcelona and Everton respectively.

It is the first time Arsenal have visited Australia since 1977 when they took part in a tournament called the World of Soccer Cup, playing twice in Sydney and once in Adelaide, but finished bottom of the four-team competition won by Celtic.

Sydney FC, coached by Graham Arnold, are the reigning A-League champions having won the Grand Final with a penalty shootout triumph against Melbourne Victory after a 1-1 draw in May.